| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Mary Ann Whiteker is retiring as superintendent of |
|
|
the Hudson Independent School District on June 30, 2017, drawing to |
|
|
a close an outstanding career in education that has spanned nearly |
|
|
four and a half decades; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, After graduating as valedictorian of her class at |
|
|
Corrigan-Camden High School, Ms. Whiteker studied education at |
|
|
Stephen F. Austin State University, where she earned both her |
|
|
bachelor's and master's degrees; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Ms. Whiteker began her career teaching first grade |
|
|
at Corrigan-Camden Elementary School in 1973; she became elementary |
|
|
curriculum supervisor for Corrigan-Camden ISD in 1984, and the |
|
|
following year, she accepted the post of district curriculum |
|
|
director; in 1986, she transferred to Hudson ISD to work as its |
|
|
curriculum director, and she went on to serve as assistant |
|
|
superintendent and interim superintendent before being named |
|
|
superintendent in 1995; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Over the course of her tenure at the helm of Hudson |
|
|
ISD, Ms. Whiteker has helped pass two bond issues totaling $24 |
|
|
million; she has been instrumental in the district's earning high |
|
|
rankings from the Texas Education Agency, Standard and Poor's, and |
|
|
the Texas Education and Business Coalition, among others; she also |
|
|
helped establish the Beth and Horace Stubblefield Learning Center, |
|
|
a facility designed to help students at risk of dropping out of |
|
|
school; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A statewide leader in her professional community, |
|
|
Ms. Whiteker has been active with the Texas Association of School |
|
|
Administrators; she is a past president of the Texas Association of |
|
|
Midsize Schools and the Texas Association of Community Schools, and |
|
|
she has served on the boards of the Region VII Education Service |
|
|
Center and the Texas Association of Suburban/Mid-Urban Schools; in |
|
|
recognition of her contributions, she was presented with the Golden |
|
|
Anvil Award for Community Service from the Pineywoods Foundation, |
|
|
and she was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to serve on the Interim |
|
|
Committee for School Finance; moreover, she has twice been named |
|
|
Superintendent of the Year for Region VII, and in 2015, she was |
|
|
named Texas Superintendent of the Year; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In addition to her professional achievements, |
|
|
Ms. Whiteker has been active with the Lufkin/Angelina County |
|
|
Chamber of Commerce, the Angelina County Drug-Free Communities and |
|
|
Schools task force, the Chamber Coalition for a Better Community, |
|
|
and the Lufkin Rotary Club; she is also a valued congregant of First |
|
|
United Methodist Church; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Ms. Whiteker's dedication to the highest standards |
|
|
of her profession has benefited countless students in East Texas, |
|
|
and she may reflect with pride on a career well spent as she embarks |
|
|
upon the next exciting chapter of her life; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby congratulate Mary Ann Whiteker on her retirement |
|
|
as superintendent of the Hudson Independent School District and |
|
|
extend to her sincere best wishes for the future; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for Ms. Whiteker as an expression of high regard by the |
|
|
Texas House of Representatives. |